The OkadaBooks Write The Future project is a $20,000 project that has developed a digital collection of 8 powerful stories that will reach over 25,000 students and teachers in low-income communities across Nigeria. The project is done in partnership with Teach for Nigeria and Dubai Cares.
The stories are written in simple English, with emphasis on local and cultural terms unique to Nigerian students in rural areas, and with strong themes that challenge cultural, gender, and racial stereotypes.
The target grade for this project is Learners in Primary 1 – 4 and ages 3 – 8, as this is the ideal age to start molding literacy into the fluid minds of kids.
Through this project, we hope to:
- Encourage critical thinking around traditional gender roles and positively influence gender social norms, thus challenging stereotypes.
- Inspire women, girls, men, and boys with an inclusive narrative that promotes equality between men and women
- Portray men and women in different roles from those traditionally assigned in a patriarchal society.
- Teach kids to accept people different from them, with stories that disabuse minds off ethnic discrimination; for example, using a mix of different tribal names in one story, so they know that Musa can be great friends with Obinna and that Kayode can be best friends with Tekena.
- Promote our natural beauty, our hair, skin color, and unique features to combat the Western standards of beauty.
- Promote loving and preserving the Earth by tackling topics such as recycling and keeping the environment clean.
- Encourage conversations around non-cliches that stimulate the imagination and spreads love and acceptance for all.
The Write The Future project is brought to you in partnership with the Dubai Cares initiative, the International Publishers Association (IPA), and Teach For Nigeria (TFN).
If you’d like to partner with us in getting these digital stories to more school children, physically, kindly contact us by sending an email to writethefuture@okadabooks.com
Learn more about the stories in the Write The Future project HERE.
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